Following the end of WW2, the United States enjoyed many years of unparalleled prosperity. For the first time, household appliances became commonplace, families took vacations together, and more Americans than ever before purchased automobiles. The car has probably done more to alter the way we live today than any other convenience over the last century. As odd as it may sound at first, widespread automobile usage actually helped pave the way for outdoor holiday lighting.
As a way of mimicking New York’s famed Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center, businesses in Los Angeles along Wilshire Blvd. (the ‘Miracle Mile’) set-up 27 giant illuminated showmen in 1957. Reflective of the urban sprawl of Southern California, the Wilshire Blvd. display appealed to passing motorists who could look out their windows as they drove past and enjoy the lights. The public loved it.
In the coming years, this unique automobile-centered approach to community light designs inevitably lead to bigger, brighter, and ultimately more spectacular light displays capable of catching passengers’ attention as they drove by. In fact, one famous mile-long display of lights in Altadena California were so bright that passing cars didn’t even need their headlights on to see where they were going.
Pretty soon businesses all across the southland started holding seasonal competitions to see who could produce the most incredible Christmas light displays, and before long, adjacent neighborhoods got into the craze as well, stringing lights along the eves of their homes, and throughout shrubs and trees. Fancy electrical light displays for the front lawn weren’t too far behind either, and within a matter of only a year or so, a nation-wide holiday tradition was born.
These days, when motorists head-out in search of the most beautiful outdoor light displays at Christmas, they’ve traded in the commotion of downtown for the hush of suburbia. Neighborhood homes ablaze in outdoor holiday lights now draw many thousands of admirer’s each December. From Santa Monica California to your very own Eden Prairie Minnesota, Christmas is the time to show off your joyful spirit. Call ALDMN for Outdoor Holiday Lighitng Services Eden Prairie MN at 952-292-7717 and let there be light!
